DDay at Kessel
by Valamagi
Summary: A retired starfighter jock comes back to kick some alien rear at Kessel. Wrote this a long while ago, my first finished fic.


D-DAY AT KESSEL  
  
CHAPTER 1  
  
"Get the heck off my tail!" Loran juked his x-wing left and right but the interceptor stayed glued to his tail, spraying his aft shields with green laser fire. His R2 unit beeped a report onto his screen, Shields are down to 20%. "Dang, I can't shake this guy!" Then a thought crossed his mind. "Hang on tight buddy." He pulled back hard on the throttle, cutting the engines. Then he swung the fighter around 180` so that he was traveling backwards. He flipped his fire selection over to proton torpedoes and fired one without even bothering with a lock. The torpedo streaked out at the interceptor, which tried in vain to avoid the streaking projectile. The torpedo detonated 10ft in front of the ball cockpit, shredding it into a million pieces. Loran let out a yell, but unfortunately, he had miss calculated. The golden explosion engulfed his x-wing, then the cockpit faded to blackness and the canopy popped up and a harsh light made him blink. He stepped out of the simulator and looked around. He was in a large white room filled with simulators and talking pilots, their hands moving, describing intricate maneuvers that they had performed. He saw his adversary step out of a TIE sim, pull his helmet off and look over at him. Major Wes Janson gave him a smile and a thumbs up then glanced away as a tech ran over to him. Nearing fifty years old, the Major had come out of retirement when the Yuuzhan Vong had begun their grab at the galaxy. I should have been able to beat the old codger easily but he still has the reflexes of a twenty-year-old. Loran sighed, Maybe next time he thought. A captain in a blue naval uniform stepped over to him. "Lt. Loran, you are to report to Briefing room 3 ASAP." Loran gave the captain a salute as he turned and walked off. What was that all about?  
Ten minutes later, after cleaning up in the refresher and changing into his city cloths, Lieutenant Loran Vala stepped into a small briefing room. It was filled with pilots sitting in small groups, talking in hushed tones. He took a seat in the back, hoping no one had noticed him. Then from a side door trotted Major Janson, still in his TIE pilot jumpsuit. All the pilots rose as he made his way to the front of the small room. He turned to them, the slight smile on his face increasing the crows' feet around his eyes, and swept his gaze across the assembly. Meeting Loran's eyes, he nodded and spoke. "Please be seated." The pilots sat, stone silent. "Well, I'm happy to report to you that you have been chosen to be part of my new squadron." The pilots roared out congratulations to each other, shaking hands and patting backs. No one shook Loran's hand, they still had not noticed him. Janson called for order. "Listen, I'll dispense with the formalities, we are to be shipped out in five hours to the Awesome. We are in desperate need of new squadrons. As you know, the Ssi-ruuvi have struck at the gap left by the Yuuzhan Vong, launching an all out offensive on the New Republic at its weakest. They have already captured fifteen systems. We are preparing a fleet to counter the incursion. You will be part of that fleet. Now I know you are more apt in X-wings, but you will be flying Scorpion class Assault Fighters. These are new additions to the fleet. They are X-wing type bodies with their four s-foils bent at the middle with an engine at each bend. They have the same speed and agility of an X-wing but are more heavily armed. Each fighter carries two heavy laser cannons, a pair of kx-4 pro-torp launchers, and five hardpoints for anti-matter missiles and such. The cockpit is basically the same so there won't be too much more to learn. Other than that, go get packed up, and be ready to leave at 0900 hours in docking bay 5, make sure you're not late."  
Loran made his way back to his room after a quick dinner that he had not really needed. He wasn't hungry or tired. He was still wondering what the next day would hold for him. Life, death, friends, or enemies.  
  
CHAPTER 2  
  
At 0900 the next morning he arrived in docking bay 5. It was large like most of the other hangers on the base. Loran expected it to be full of fighters and tech staff but only 12 small fighters of unfamiliar design and a small military transport occupied it. He stalked over to the small group of fighters and sat down on a missile box. He glanced over at the shuttle as a man in an orange New Republic jumpsuit walk down the ramp and stared strait at him in a strange nonchalant manner. "The other pilots are up in the shuttle." He said. Loran got up and moved up the ramp past the strange man and into the shuttle. Ten pilots arranged in a semi- circle around Major Janson occupied the shuttles bay, they all looked up as he entered, some with blank faces and some with expectant gazes. Janson smiled as Loran took the last seat in the compartment near the back. "People, this is Lieutenant Loran, our last pilot. Loran, I'm glad you could join us. Now back to assignments. I'm Red 1 as you know. Captain Nuub will be my second in command as Red 2. Flight Officer Brian Cooper, you are Red 3. F.O. Jeff Porkins, you are Red 4. We together make One Flight. Lt. Jaina Solo, you will have F.O.'s Jared Wallcot, David Russell, and Daniel Potterton. And Lieutenant Loran, you will have F.O.'s Chris Harris, Seth Harris, and Chaz Darklighter." Loran blinked. Great! I have command of two brothers and a Darklighter! "Yes sir." "Very good. Now, get to your ships and be ready to launch in five minutes, dismissed." The pilots stood and filled out of the small shuttle and onto the tarmac. "Lieutenant." Loran turned around to see three young men in orange flight suits move away from the main group of pilots and approach him. "Yes? I suppose you are the rest of my flight." "Yes sir" said the smallest of the three. "I'm Chaz Darklighter, this is Chris Harris and that's his brother Seth." He looked over the three pilots. Chaz was small in stature but the light in his earth brown eyes told that he was much bigger in spirit. He wore his brown hair in a bowl cut. He was darker than most of the more well known Darklighters. Both Harris brothers had dirty blondish brown hair but the elder, Chris, was taller by 3 inches. Both had deep blue eyes that pried at Loran as if studying him. "Well, we'll have to talk later, get to your fighters. You know your positions." Loran turned and moved off to a currently unoccupied fighter, the stares of his pilots burning into his back. He hopped up into the cockpit and glanced at the controls, they were standard X-wing controls but with a weapons control screen in place of the droid translator. Since the Scorpion did not have an R2 unit, its computer could only contain two jump sets which limited it's ability to function on it's own. That didn't matter though. Loran strapped into his crash webbing and put his helmet on. He went through the pre-flight checklist and ignited his engines. The reassuring whine of his engines warming up finally woke him up. How long had it been since he had last been in a real cockpit? What was it, four years! It HAD been four years! Loran's hands shook as he gripped the flight stick. The intercom brought him back to reality "Flight leaders report." said Major Janson. "One flight ready." That was Captain Nuub. "Two flight ready sir." Loran glanced out at the three other fighters arrayed around him, he keyed his com unit. "Three flight ready major." "All right people, follow me. When you get out form up in twos for the jump." Ahead, Red 1 suddenly ignited his engines and shot out through the mag-con field on full afterburners. One by one the fighters followed each other out into the black of space. As Loran made his way out to the jump point, his com beeped. "Red 9, permission to form on your wing?" Loran smiled. "Permission granted. Who do I have with me?" "This is Chris Harris in Red 10 sir." "Good to have you with me ten, keep tight." "Cut the chatter nine." Said Red 1, "Jump set transmitting now." The data spilled into his computer. "Go for light speed now." Loran pushed his drive lever forward. Stars turned into starlines as the squadron jumped into hyperspace.  
  
CHAPTER 3  
  
In hyperspace, Loran had time to think. What was he doing here, leading a flight of fighters into the middle of something he still did not know much about. What would happen when they got to the other end of the tunnel? Would they meet the enemy and achieve victory or would they die for a galaxy that didn't care? It was a long jump, out to who knows where! There was nothing to do but twiddle his fingers and take naps as he waited for the crono to run down. Finally, in the middle of his 14th nap of the flight, he was awakened by a shrill alarm that announced reversion to real space in twenty seconds. Loran put his black gloves back on and settled in for reentry. 5.4.3.2.1. Starlines twisted back into stars as the squadron shot out of hyperspace. Loran noticed that his flight had all made it through. But something else caught his eyes, an enormous black spot in space that sucked in anything and everything. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. It was the legendary Maw! But that meant, Loran checked his scanners. He wasn't seeing things, he was in the Kessel system! He punched up the squadron com frequency. "What is this lead? I thought we were going to join the fleet, not go spice mining." "Well, you thought right. Take a look at your long range scanners Nine." Loran flipped on the scanners again and his mouth dropped out. There on the far side of Kessel waited the largest ragtag New Republic fleet he had ever seen. Over one hundred warships of all sizes and descriptions were parked around the small garrison moon. And at the center of it all was Admiral Ackbar's command ship, Home One. Both the Admiral and his vessel had joined the ever-growing list of retired servicemen that had come back in the past year. A friendly Mon Cal voice crackled over the com unit. "Squadron one seventy nine, You have permission to come aboard the Awesome, and welcome to Kessel." "Well you heard the man, turn to heading 340 and make your way to the Awesome, docking bay two." "Acknowledged Lead, coming about." The flights split up to take their own route to the Awesome. Loran signaled his flight to follow him as he broke towards the center of the large formation. Loran marveled at the grand array of ships spread out all around him. Dagger shaped star destroyers road next to boxy assault frigates. Mon Calamari star cruisers drifted past flat fleet carriers. It was an impressive array of firepower. "Wonder which ones the Awesome?" said Chaz. "It's coming up past this star destroyer." Was the reply from Seth. The flight swept up over the top of the dagger hull and found what they were looking for. The Awesome was a Victory class Mark II star destroyer that was still in great condition. Apparently, the previous owner had taken very good care of it. They swept up under the gleaming hull and entered the dark hole that was the hanger bay. Loran spotted the rest of the squadron easily, it was surrounded by techs and troopers wanting to get a look at the new arrivals. They set down in an open spot on the hanger deck. Loran popped open his canopy and let the smells of oil and grease rush in, reviving him. A tech helped Loran down the stairs just as a group of officers and pilots made their way over in his direction. One, a General, focused in on Loran with Major Janson at his side. They were laughing about something as they arrived in front of the fighter. "Lieutenant Loran, this is General Wedge Antilles.". "Wedge, this is the pilot that beat me in the sims." Loran snapped to attention and offered a salute but Wedge just brushed it off. General Wedge Antilles was also one of the formally retired fighter pilots that was back in action. "So, you're the one, nice to meet you Lieutenant Loran. I hope I get to see you in combat." "Yes sir." "Very well, Go get unpacked, were going to need you soon." Wedge moved closer and whispered in his ear. "Nice to see you again Loran." He moved away to greet the other pilots. Loran slumped down against his fighter's landing gear. What was he thinking? What was he doing here? Loran pushed the thought away and realized that Chaz was standing over him. "What's wrong boss? You look like you saw the emperor reborn." Loran smiled. "No I'm all right Chaz. Let's go get settled in." That night, Loran slept like he never had before.  
  
CHAPTER 4  
  
The next morning, as he made his way to the mess hall, his three pilots joined him. They entered the mess hall just in time to see a food tray go flying across the room and hit a large pilot in the head. The pilot turned in the direction, from which the offending projectile had come and bellowed out. "All right, who threw that!" No one had time to answer before a strong voice spoke over the overhead speakers. "Battle stations, Battle stations. Scramble all fighters. An enemy battle fleet has entered the system. Repeat, an enemy battle fleet has entered the system." In a moment, the room was awash with pilots racing for the door. Loran grabbed his pilots. " Quick, to the fighters!" They raced down red lighted halls towards the hanger. When they got there, it was all confusion. Techs ran everywhere. Loran sighted his squadrons' fighters sitting at the far end of the hanger, techs swarming over them. "Quick, to your fighters boys. Get space born and form up off the bow, Move!" Loran sprinted to his fighter and took the flight ladder in one leap. He strapped in quickly and flipped on the engine start up sequence. He ignored the computer's report as he brought his engines up to full. "Flight report." His pilots answered back. "Ten ready." "Eleven, four in the green." "Twelve, ready sir." "All right, Let's get out there." Loran ran power into his repulsers and jetted out of the mag-con field and into space. As his flight formed up around him. Loran checked his scanners and felt his mouth run dry. Coming into the system was a battlefleet consisting of what his computer identified as fifty heavy cruisers, two hundred escorts, and a quartet of troop ships. "Sithspawn! That's two times the size of our fleet!" "Now you know what we faced at Bakura boys." Said Wes as he saddled up to Loran's fighter. "Nine, your flight is the only one fully armed so we'll form up on you." Loran looked out at his s-foils and realized that Major Janson was right. Four large missiles hung from pylons on either wing and a glance at his weapons monitor told him that he had a fifth under his cockpit. His computer identified the missiles as Merrson kx-20 anti-matter missiles. "Right, what's the plan lead?" As if in answer to the question a gravely Mon Cal voice, likely Admiral Ackbar's, called out. "All fighters, forward to the enemy fighter screen. Bombers, attack the picket ships and transports." "You heard the admiral, forward to the transports." Wes suited words to action and kicked his fighter forward toward the nearest oval transport. As Loran watched small specks dropped from the transports and moved into the wispy atmosphere of Kessel. Loran fixed his cross hares over one of the distant dots and text began to scroll across his screen. "Lead, those are drop ships." "Don't worry about them, our targets are the transports. We'll move out in front and take any opposition in your way so you can make runs on the transports." The other two flights moved up in front of his flight and powered up weapons. "Lieutenant, I'm showing ten picket ships between us and the transports. We'll take care of them for you." "Thank you sir." The picket ships, noticing the fighters, turned towards the incoming threat and formed a wall of guns to protect their big ungainly charges. But since space is not flat the wall just opened up other ways to the transports. "One minute till maximum firing range." Said the Major, "One and two flights, break by pares at my mark and make one pass with torpedoes at the pickets and then on to the transports." Loran watched as the crono scrolled down at nothing. "Mark." The fighters in front of him broke by pairs and spread out to engage the pickets. At their maximum range the pickets opened up on the incoming fighters with green and blue laser fire. Loran noted where the fire was coming from. "All right three flight, break by pares when were through the pickets and engage the fat boys. Loran watched as two pickets exploded under the guns of his squadron mates. They must be lightly shielded if they go down under such light fire. Then his flight was past the picket line and in front of them lay the four transports. At 750 meters long, the ovoid ships were nearly as big as the more potent cruisers. They were covered with blisters, much like Mon Cal cruisers but were almost certainly less well armed. His computer identified only six weapons emplacements. Loran switched his weapons over to anti-matter missiles, dual fire. His targeting brackets went red instantly and he got a solid tone. He fired. Two missiles leapt forth from the fighter riding blue tongues of fire. It took the missiles less than four seconds to reach the first transport. One missile slammed into the ship's shields and brought them down a half second before the second missile drove strait through the hull and detonated in the transport's fragile innards. The transports hull bloated for a second before disintegrating in a yawning ball of flame. His cockpit canopy instantly polarized, protecting his eyes but the sight still took his breath away. "Scratch one transport." Loran yelled as he swung around to attack the next one but the ship had turned and was running at full speed away from him. As he watched the transport jumped into hyperspace and was gone. "Nice shots nine. Maybe next time you can get both of them." Loran smiled. "Thanks One. What happened to the guards?" "We got all but one and only two transports were destroyed but that's fine. You did well. All right people. Back to base, we won this one. Well done." Loran turned back feeling content.  
  
CHAPTER 5  
  
An hour later, after a debriefing and a trip to the refresher, Loran sauntered into the pilots' mess and smiled. There in the corner, most of the squadron was seated around a large circular table big enough for a fighter to land on. At Loran's appearance the group waved him over to a seat at the table. "Hey, it's the ace back from the hunt." Said Jeff just a bit sarcastically. Loran looked around the table. He was met with stares from everyone but Chaz. "What did I do?" Jaina Solo picked up her drink and swirled it around before answering. "Keeping secrets from us is not the best way to make friends Loran. I thought I recognized you when you walked into the shuttle back at Commenor but I didn't say anything because I wasn't sure. But the way you took out that transport with the dual missiles, I'd recognize you anywhere Major Loran Vala. You were with Rogue Squadron, The Roughnecks, You lead your own squadron didn't you Major?" Loran sat there. He was dumbfounded. How did they find out who I was? Did Wes tell them or did they figure it out on their own? Loran looked up into the faces of his fellow pilots. He slowly blew out his breath and sighed. "Yea it's true. I did lead my own squadron and yes I was a major." Chaz looked right into Loran's eyes. "Then why are you here?" "Well, it's a long story. Four years ago, I lead my squadron into an asteroid belt. We were following a squadron of uglies when their big buddy, a dreadnought, popped in right on top of us and destroyed everyone but me. I got away and Intel jumped on me, accusing me of having piratical hookups and getting my squadron destroyed. They stuck me in a jail and that's where I've stayed up until four weeks ago when I was let out and was told I was a to be reassigned to a new squadron. And here I am." Loran looked at all the faces around him. Most were shocked at his revelation but when he looked at Jaina she looked away as if ashamed. Finally she spoke. "I'm sorry Loran, I didn't know that part. I just recognized you from a holo of Rogue squadron after the second battle of Destillion." Loran hid a small smile. That was six years ago and Jaina had been a big part of both the first and second battles. Her reputation as a pilot and a Jedi had traveled far so Loran had no idea why she would be in a new outfit like this one. But Loran decided it was her own business and if she didn't want to say he would not ask. "Well, now you know a little more about your flight leader." Loran's three pilots broke out into a laugh while everyone else just smiled. "I'm surprised Loran, it took longer for that to come out than I thought it would." The pilots jumped to attention as Major Janson entered the circle of light, all except Loran. "Yes it did Wes. I just wish it hadn't." said Loran, looking up at Wes with a slight smile on his face. "Why Loran?" "Well, it's hard to recall the past and mine is even harder to bring back up." "I'm sorry Loran but sometimes it's good to bring it back." "Yea, your right Wes." Wes smiled. "Your welcome. Oh, nice shot taking out that transport." Loran nodded his silent thanks. "On to other news. The fleet pushed back the first attack but the enemy got some troops down onto the planet and have taken over it's surface defenses and some basic systems. So we will be going down there at 1400 hours to make it even harder for them to protect themselves. We'll be going after missile emplacements and a warehouse which we think contains two of their drop ships but it just might be just a room full of spice in which case the former owners will be very ticked." This brought even more smiles from the pilots. "Be in the hanger at 1330 for briefing and prep. That's all for now." The pilots broke up and moved away. Loran joined Jaina for a quick drink and then moved off to his room for some sleep before the mission. For some reason Loran had a feeling of impending dread about the mission but pushed it off and fell asleep to the sound of the destroyer's engines low hum.  
Four hours later Loran's Scorpion plunged through the thin atmosphere of Kessel fully loaded with four Vulcan gun pods and a napalm plasma bomb. "Wow, when you load a fighter with this much ordinance, you're making one bad space kitty." "You said it eleven." Said Loran smiling at his wingmate. His flight was coming up on two CM-9 missile batteries. The missiles had become famous for their part in the destruction of the second Death Star but they were better suited for atmospheric attacks where their concussion blast caused more damage. On Kessel they had little atmosphere to fly through but they were still deadly. That's why we need them taken out, so we can operate with out the fear of missiles flying up our tailpipes. "Forty seconds till target, arm your weapons, use your Vulcans for the chip sites, save your napes." Loran switched his weapons over to the cannons and centered his sights on the still distant targets. "On the deck boss, ten seconds." On his screen the missile launchers turned towards the oncoming threat and Loran's target warning sensor began beeping, warning him of an imminent target lock. "Go evasive and give them a taste of fire boys." Loran squeezed his trigger and the cannons spat depleted uranium rounds at the launcher. The bullets shredded the launcher, tearing it off at midpoint and dropping it to the planet surface. Secondary explosions told Loran that the missile warheads had detonated. His missile warning system screamed at him. Loran snapped rolled to the right then up into a loop that brought him back onto his original heading just in time to see the missile hit a crater and explode. "I can't shake this thing, someone help!" Loran reacted instantly. He brought his fighter around to find Seth being perused by a rapidly closing missile. Seth, to his best efforts, could not get rid of the missile. "On my mark twelve, break left, Mark." Twelve broke up and away from the planet surface. The missile started to compensate but not fast enough. The missile skipped into Loran's sights and he pulled the trigger. A burst of cannon fire caught the missile in the tail and slued it around on an uncorrectable heading into space. "Thanks Nine." "Your welcome Twelve but next time use the first warning." "Sure." "All right people, we took out the chips so head onto the next target." Loran brought his fighter about, the others formed up on his wings, and they headed out over the rocky terrain to the next target, the warehouse. "Hey Nine, look at your long range scanners, what do you see?" Loran looked down at the screen and then took a double take. There were more fighters over the second target then there should have been, too many. "Kick it in boys, our guys are in trouble." Loran pushed his afterburners to their max and shot toward the distant dogfight. As he got within range his scanners reported that there were twenty enemy fighters and only five friendly fighters. "Sithspawn, they got some of our pilots. Come on guys, arm your torpedoes and chose your targets." "Computer, assign six fighters as targets one through six and bring up target one." A flashing light that represented an enemy fighter appeared on Loran's screen. Loran vectored toward it and placed his targeting rectical over the small, fast form. It turned from green to a jittery yellow then to a solid red as he came in range. Loran let fly with a torpedo. It streaked in and struck the pyramid shaped craft and vaporized it. "Wooohhh, scratch one." "Nice to see you boys again." Came Janson's slightly strained voice over the com. "Who'd we loss?" "Jeff took a hit by a chip and went to ground. Daniel, lost an s-foil and lost attitude control, he just got back to the ship." Loran swept his brackets over a fighter and fired off another torpedo. He had the satisfaction of watching the hole left side of the craft disappear in a ball of flame while the other half went spiraling down to the ground before green laser fire hit his aft shield and he had to break off. Another pyramid passed in front of Loran's cockpit but before he could squeeze off another shot the fighter exploded and something zipped by leaving a blurry after image. "Hey you guys, you need some help?" Came a young friendly voice. "Jacen, is that you?" said Jaina in an excited bubbling voice. "Hey sis, didn't think I would be saving your butt any time soon." Two more A-wings flashed past and Loran caught a glimpse of their dull white finish, the Roughnecks had arrived. The A-wings made short work of the enemy fighters, flitting in and out, taking out a fighter here, another there until there was nothing left to shoot down. Loran scanned the A-wings' Friend/Foe Transceivers and found the match he was looking for. He sided up to one of the A-wings, found it's com frequency, and flipped it on. "Hey Four, I'm your wing." A familiar voice answered back. "I am always glad to accommodate a former wing mate." "What are you talking about Runt?" Came a slightly confused Jacen. "What do you mean former wing mate?" "Just what it means, I'm always glad to have Lieutenant Loran Vala on my wing." A slight gasp came from the other end. Then Jacen laughed. "Is that really you Vala? I thought you were still rotting in some Intel jail." "Loran smiled at the pilot barely visible in the second A-wing that had come up next to him. "Yes it's me Solo. Really, I didn't expect you guys to be here. I thought you were still out chasing those worldships." "A lot has happened since you left us. Were currently based on the Vortex, that big new Mon Cal cruiser that's abeam of Home One." "Were on the Awesome." "The Awesome eh? Worked with her before. Good ship." "All right guys enough reminiscing. We'll talk later." Came Wes's stern voice. The A-wings broke off and sped away into space. Loran sighed. "Awesome, this is Squadron Leader, we need a shuttle to pick up a downed pilot." "Roger squadron leader, shuttle on its way." "Nine, I'll give you some free time to go see your friends but not now." "Thanks One." "Don't mention it Nine. Everyone back to the ship except for Two and me, we'll escort the shuttle in. Go." Loran kicked his fighter's engines up and set a course for the Awesome, His flight formed up around him as he headed up. Loran would get the time to visit his old squadron, he'd make sure of it.  
  
CHAPTER 6  
  
That time came sooner than he though. Ten hours later he received a message from Wes telling him that he was clear for five hours of free time. Loran immediately requested a flight over to the Vortex and boarded his Scorpion twenty minutes later. He flew out over the massed fleet and marveled at the lines of battlecruisers and fleet carriers. As he approached the center of the fleet he sighted the Vortex. The MC-100 was the newest ship in the fleet. It's graceful lines and curving hull were typical of all Mon Cal Starcruisers, the only thing that was different was it's size. It dwarfed Home One. It was four kilometers of pure fighting ship. Loran entered the enormous docking bay. It was filled with all types of fighters, from A-wings to Tie bombers. A deck assistant directed Loran to an empty spot on the flight deck where twelve figures waited in the shadow of an assault shuttle. Loran set down perfectly and popped the hatch and let the perfumes of the flight deck seep in. He took of his helmet and jumped down to the deck. He walked over to the nearest figure, a young, average sized man with brown hair and a big smile on his face. Loran saluted. "Permission to come aboard Commander Solo?" "Permission granted Lieutenant." Jacen shook Loran's hand, "Welcome back." At that the other pilots swarmed around Loran, shaking hands and reviving old jokes.  
For the next four hours the pilots entertained Loran with stories of fighting coral skippers in the unknown regions and destroying world ships in massive fleet engagements. Then Loran shared his story of being in command of his own squadron and his time spent in prison. Finally, after six drinks and much laughing Loran stood and stretched. "Well that was great guys, but I got to get out of here, I'm supposed to fly CAP for a bombing run." Jacen got up and shook Loran's hand. "Thanks for taking the time to come and see us Loran." After shaking hands all around he and Jacen headed for the hanger. Just as the alarm went off. Jacen frowned. "What's going on here?" "It's an attack, get to the fighters." The two pilots got to the hanger just as the first low rumble of the Cruiser's guns fired. "The Fluties must be launching a counter attack." Loran jumped up into his fighter just as the rest of the Roughnecks arrived in the hanger. Loran launched out of the hanger and into the middle of a running light fight. Ten Shree class cruisers had somehow gotten into the middle of the fleet and were pounding on Home One and the Vortex and the two New Republic ships were fighting back. But the fighter battle was a different story. The New Rep fighters were out numbered nearly ten to one. New fighter squadrons were arriving by the second but the little droid fighters were still to numerous. Loran switched on his shields and chose a group of three enemy fighters moving away from him towards the fringe of the battle. Loran spited the lead fighter with four blasts before the little ship exploded. Wes wasn't kidding when he said these things had strong shields! The two remaining fighters broke off and were soon lost in the jumble of fighters. Next Loran picked a group of fighters that were harassing four B- wings. Loran switched over to proton torpedoes and leveled his sights on the nearest fighter and got a tentative tone from his targeting computer and popped off a torpedo then moved his sights over the next one and fired again. The first torpedo ripped the small fighter apart, the second missed it's target but detonated when it's sensors registered it had passed. The explosion took out its intended target and made another small pyramid's side crumple, sending it off into deep space, uncontrolled. For the next few minutes Loran slipped in and out of the fight, one by one making enemy fighters into small clouds of ionized particles. Loran was just turning back into the fight when a high pitched wail went out through all the com channels. Loran flinched and flipped off his com, but when he looked back up the enemy fighters were gone. He looked at his scanners and found that the cruisers were gathering up the fighters into their immense bays. As he watched the cruisers moved away at high speed through the fleet, occasionally drawing fire until they were out of the fleet and well away from Kessel. They jumped to hyperspace. Loran looked out at the fleet and let out a little moan. The Vortex was drifting, multiple fires were even now flickering out, and all the lights were out. But even that was nothing compared to what had happened to Home One, or more accurately, what was left of Home One. The once mighty flagship of the New Republic was now thousands pieces of dilapidated hull and engine parts drifting in space. Loran cut his engines and drifted through the wreckage. Hatchways that used to lead to grand compartments now opened into open space. Body parts drifted freely amid the wreckage, frozen in last cries of agony or terror. Loran choked down rising bile in his throat. What a terrible way to die. Loran thought. "Nine, where are you?" Loran finally switched his com back on. "Right in the middle of what was Home One. What happened with you Jacen?" "We got out and blasted some fighters. Six is extra-vehicle." Loran pushed back a sob. He had known many a crewmember on the Rebel flagship. "Wes is inbound with your squadron to begin recovery operations. You going to join them or are you going back to the Awesome?" "I think I'll go back." Loran said sadly as he gazed at the clumps of drifting metal for, what he hoped would be the last time. Loran moved off towards his home ship.  
When he landed, everything seemed to be normal. As if nothing had just happened Thought Loran. Loran moved off silently towards the mess hall so he could drown his sorrows in a couple rounds of Loman Ale. He had just finished his third drink when a shout rang out behind him. "Loran? Loran Vala? Is that you?" Loran turned around slowly to see a tall, brown hared woman in a commando's uniform weaving her way through the tables towards him. Something clicked inside Loran's head and he sat up straighter. "Lita! What are you doing here?" Lita Drexler sat down next to Loran and gave him a powerful slap on the back that almost made him bring back up his last drink. "Oh, No. The question is what are you doing here? I thought you were still in that Intel cell back on Coruscant." Loran smiled his first true smile that day. "Well obviously I'm not still there. I got out weeks ago." Lita laughed. "Ha, it's good to see you! I'm with the commandos that were scheduled to head down to Kessel later but our cover got pulled, those fighter jocks are so cocky!" "Hey, that's my new squadron you're talking about." Loran stared at her. She was just an inch shorter than he was but he knew from experience that she could throw him around the room at moments notice. Her muscular body accented her brown eyes and brown hair that was caught up in a high ponytail. She was beautiful by any standards and Loran knew that. They had liked each other back when he was with the Roughnecks but he had lost track of her when he got his own squadron and later when he was thrown in jail. Now all he wanted to do was look at her and hear her voice. "Hello in there? You still there Loran?" Loran blinked, he had been staring at her chin. "Yes I'm still here, just got a little side tracked." Lita smiled again. "Yes, you have been known to do that." They talked for hours, reminiscing about old times and battles won and lost. She promised to see him again soon and lead him to his room where she left him. Loran dreamed sweat dreams that night, the events of the day forgotten in his bliss.  
  
CHAPTER 7  
  
The next morning the squadron was gathered together in the staff room that served as its flight room. Wes had called them in early for a big meeting. As Wes stepped up to the front, Loran burst through the door with his arms still out of his flight suit. Everyone glanced up and Wes smiled. "Glad you could make it Mr.Vala." Loran sat down next to Seth and smiled back. "I wouldn't miss this for the world." "Good. Now, As you all know, there was a surprise attack yesterday and we lost Home One and at least for now the Vortex. Luckily, Admiral Ackbar was not aboard. We will be launching a major counter attack in three hours." Janson touched a button on his data pad and a swirling holo of Kessel and the surrounding appeared. "We are here," Wes pointed to the near side of Kessel and the Garrison moon. "Our fleet has been growing in the past hours. Our fleet now numbers in the two hundreds. The flutie's fleet is here. Our best estimation at their numbers is two hundred fifty. And close to 10,000 fighters. They have taken control of most of the planet down there. So, we will be escorting a number of Elite Commando teams down to the surface. The team we will be leading down is lead by Lieutenant Lita of the Black Widows. Lita stepped through the side door and made her way up to Wes. She turned to address the pilots and caught Loran's eye. She smiled one of her winning smiles and began. "We will be dropping here." She pointed to a small spot on Kessel's surface and it magnified to show a large black slab building with weapons emplacements and sensor towers arrayed around it. "This is the old Imperial mining base. My team along with two others will be going in to take back the communications equipment and to get back control of the atmosphere generators and planetary defenses. Your job," here she smiled out at the pilots, "is to provide us with close air support and CAP, Wes." Wes stepped back up to the front. "One flight will be providing the ground support. Jaina, your flight will fly CAP just above our position. Loran, you and your flight will be flying Long Range CAP at the lower reaches of the stratosphere to watch for fighters. As far as we know there are no fighters based at the base but Intel on them is not very good so we really don't know." Loran nodded. "We'll keep our eyes open sir." "Good, The CAP flights will have an extra fuel tank strapped to your bottom and four CM9s on your wings. Get rid of the extra tank before you engage the enemy. Save your chips if possible encase we meet up with a cruiser or something. Remember, we will be on the far side of the planet, we won't be getting any help from the fleet." Jared squirmed, "So if we go down we will most likely die." Wes sighed, "Yes that's possible." Lita spoke. "If you go down, try and send us a message on the tight band signal we'll give you later so we can come and pick you up." "Moving on. The ground support flight will be armed with three Napalms and two Anti-Matter Missiles."  
The briefing went on for another half and hour. Wes told them what to do if you had to go to ground and Lita generally filled in where Wes was wrong. Finally Wes came to the last subject. "One thing we haven't done and should have done is figure out a name for this squadron." Brian stood up. "How about Rouge Squadron?" There were chuckles all around the room. Wes laughed. "Sorry Brian but that names taken." Brian sat down with a disappointed look on his face. Jeff raised a hand. "How about the Cake Eaters." This time the whole room broke out in unbridled laughter. When everyone had settled down Wes looked out at the group of pilots. "All right guys, really, what should our name be." Jaina stood. "How about the Black Cats." Wes looked at Jaina as though she was some sort of genius. "Jaina, that's the best I've heard yet. Are there any objections?" The entire squadron agreed with Jaina's idea. "All right then, Jaina, what will our insignia look like?" "A Scorpion diving with a black cat with its fur up on top inside a red circle." Wes looked back at a man in mechanics overalls sitting in the back row. "Cas, can you get that on all the fighters before we leave?" The man nodded. "I think so." "Great. Now everyone go take a short rest and meet in the hanger in two hours, dismissed.  
Loran sided up to Lita "Good luck Commando and may the Force be with you." Lita turned and threw a punch at Loran but he ducked out of the way. "You to Pilot, see you in 24 hours." "You can bet on it."  
  
CHAPTER 8  
  
Loran, at the head of his small group of pilots, entered the hanger bay. Loran looked over to see Cas putting the final touches on his Black Cat insignia. Loran walked up to the fighter and climbed the latter. "Looks nice Cas, what's this?" Loran pointed at the small markings below the canopy. "Those my friend are your kills, thought I'd add them on for you." Loran blinked, "But I don't have that many kills to my name." Cas smiled his big smile. " Yes you do Lieutenant, I took the liberty of looking over your files, you have an impressive score." "But those don't count, I mean that was before my time in jail." "That's all right sir. May the Force be with you." The mechanic jumped down from the top S-foil and walked away towards the Major's fighter. Loran hopped into his cockpit and grabbed his helmet then took a second look. Someone had painted the insignia on both sides of his helmet but on the right side someone had drawn a lady in a green flowing dress next to the cat. It took Loran a moment to realize it was Lita. Loran looked back at the mechanic as he talked to Wes. Loran shook off the thought, he would thank him later he thought.  
Pilots began calling in. Loran started his ignition sequence and flipped his com switch. "This is Black Nine calling in, four green and lit." "Roger that nine, Black Cat Squadron ready for flight." Loran turned on his repulsers and turned to see the Commando's shuttle lift off the deck and move out of the hanger. The squadron followed it out by flights. They reached the planet a minute latter. "One flight, Two flight, take the transport down, three flight, take position." "Yes sir. Three flight, take up station." "Roger that chief." Loran watched as the others in his squadron dropped through the atmosphere, escorting the shuttle towards the gray block that was the compound. Minute's later smoke was rising from several points on or around the compound. Through his scanners Loran saw the shuttle land under a hail of fire from the fighters and disgorge the teams of commandos. "Hey Nine?" "Yea ten. What is it?" "I've got a bad feeling about this nine. No fighter cover, almost no defense. It's weird." Loran hid a grimace. "I have the same feeling ten. Don't worry about it but keep your eyes open." But before ten could even answer, a blue laser bolt sliced through the space between the fighters. Loran threw his fighter into a wild twist that threw him against the left side of his cockpit. He leveled out just in time to see another picket ship shoot in from hyperspace to join the other two that had sneaked up on them some how. "Black nine to Black leader, Wes we have three picket ships that just got the jump on us." "Roger that nine, we just got a surprise of our own, two squadrons popped out of no where. Your flight is the only one that has the altitude to call in back up." "Right." Loran selected the fleet wide com frequency and flipped it on. "This is Black Cat nine to fleet. We just got jumped by a large force, request back up." A deep voice answered him. "Black nine. Give us your position and we'll send all we can, we have a fight going on over here to, Out." Loran flipped back to the squadron frequency. "Wes, the fleet says they have troubles of their own but they will send what they can." "Right. Hold them off as long as you can nine." Loran nodded at the speaker. "Right." He turned his fighter back into the fight and found it was going worse than he thought. His fighters were being kept at a distance by heavy fire from the pickets. The pickets on the other hand were moving into position right in the path of the squadron's exit point. They were in trouble, real trouble.  
"All right boys. Arm your chips and engage the pickets. Stay alive." Loran flipped weapons over to the CM9s and moved in. The pickets had reached their exit vector and had turned to guard it. They were arrayed in a triangle with each ships weapons pointing out so that they formed a 180 degree firing ark with Three flight heading right for the middle of that cone. Loran transferred all shield energy to forward shields and placed his targeting rectical over the lead ship. Laser fire began tracking the incoming fighters but Loran just began juking at random intervals, always keeping the target in his sights. At two kilometers he let all his missiles go at once. Loran pulled back on the stick and hit the left rudder, sending his fighter up over the hull of the picket. He punched the fuel tank release at the same moment. A distant explosion behind him told him that the tank had caught a stray turbolaser bolt. A bright flare quickly followed. Loran brought his fighter around and saw that his first attack had not succeeded. The others had concentrated their fire on one ship and it had paid off. The ship was now a mass of dissipating gases. His CM9s gone, he switched over to Proton Torpedoes and charged. Suddenly, Loran was thrown forward against his panel by a massive explosion. It took Loran a second to realize that he was hit. He looked at his board and slumped back in his shock couch. His aft section was totally gone. The engines, shield generators, fuel tanks, everything. He looked out his starboard window and saw that both right s-foils were gone. Not just damaged but gone. Loran found the com switch but was met by silence when he switched it on. He was dead in space. Through his forward view port he saw his pilots battling away at the remaining pickets. A muffled pinging made him look at his status boards. The proximity alarm? What would be hitting him now? Loran groggily looked out his port window and nearly leapt with joy but his safety straps restrained him. A New Republic Corvette was bearing down on him, and surrounding the corvette was a flight of old Y-wing assault fighters. Something else began beeping. He reached for his pockets and pulled out his comlink. A hazy voice reached out over the static. "Fighter pilot this is the Victor, do you need any assistance?" Loran smiled. "Yes, I do. Could you get me aboard quickly, this thing is not going to last much longer." "Right." Came the reply a moment later. The corvette slowed as it reached Loran's crippled fighter. An invisible hand reached out and grabbed his fighter and brought it up right against the hull. An outer door began opening on the side of the ship. Docking port or maybe an airlock. Thought Loran. He knew what they wanted him to do. He switched on his emergency force field and opened his cockpit to the cold of space. He instantly felt chilly. The Force field was notorious for not being able to keep in the heat so he only had a few minutes before he would freeze. He climbed out of the cockpit slowly until only his left hand held onto his crippled fighter than pushed off toward the door and it's blinking lights. A minute later he stepped out of the airlock and into the warmth of the corvette's right hallway. A young ensign in a spotless blue uniform was waiting just outside for him. He saluted to Loran and said in a stiff precise voice. "Welcome aboard sir. The Captain wishes your presence on the bridge to watch to battle." The ensign turned and began to march back down the hall with Loran hard on his heals. As they stopped to let a tech crew get past, Loran felt the deck vibrate under him and heard a dull roar. "What was that?" The ensign nodded as if he understood something. "The Captain has engaged the enemy sh." The man didn't even have time to finish his sentence before they were both thrown off their feet. "Now what?" The young man looked petrified as he scrambled up and took out a datapad. He turned even whiter. "The bridge has been hit and is out of commission." Great thought Loran, out of one damaged ship and into an even bigger one. The ensign waved to Loran. "Quick, to the emergency bridge." They ran down bustling halls and heard more hits striking home. "We can't survive much more of this." Said the ensign. They turned into a small, very small room full of excited people with screens on two walls showing status reports and views of the two picket ships battling the Scorpions and Y-wings. Half the room looked up as Loran came into the room and about half of them saluted. Loran saluted back and scanned the room. "Who's in charge here?" A slightly ruffled lieutenant j.g. looked up from a screen. "I suppose I am sir but now that your here." The lieutenant straitened up and said, "Sir, I give you full command of the Victor." Loran was taken aback, command a capital starship, only in his dreams. But if he must he must. Loran saluted back. "Thank you lieutenant. All right people, what's the status?" An older man looked up from his console. "All systems restored. Shields back to full capacity and the turbolasters are charged and ready." "Right. Call the fighters back. Have them form a flying wedge as close as possible to our tail." Loran remembered tactics he had seen used against other small groups of light capital starships. "Make sure they are well hidden from their sensors. We'll cut strait through their formation firing as we come. We will draw their fire with us. That will leave them open for the fighters. Black Ten?" A distorted voice answered. "Yea nine?" "Ten, take eleven and escort two of the wishbones. Go for the picket on the port side. Twelve, you'll have to take the other two y-wings. Go for the starboard picket. Give them hell boys!" Loran spun on his heals. "Once we're past the pickets put aft shields to maximum and run like heck." He got a chorus of replies from the crew as they got back to their stations. "Helm, full speed ahead." The corvette lurched forward towards the two remaining pickets. At forty kilometers the pickets open up on the Victor as it approached them at break neck speed. "Hold your fire until we're within three klics." Loran sat down in the captain's chair and waited. Ten klics, eight klics, six klics, four klics, two klics till they opened fire. The countdown reached zero. Loran balled his fists and slammed the armrests. "Fire!" The Victor opened up on the pickets with its turbolasters and the pickets answered back with salvo after salvo of blue green fire. "Shields are holding." Called an ensign. Loran watched as his ship raced past the pickets, drawing their fire as they went. It was working. The pickets probably didn't even know the fighters were there until to late. Fourteen torpedoes slammed into their unshielded backsides and exploded. Loran would never forget it. Two double explosions washed out after the corvette as it raced away at flank speed with the fighters hot on its tail. They had done it.  
  
CHAPTER 9  
  
Wes was beginning to despair. When the fighters had appeared he had set his pilots on them and had destroyed six of them before being driven off by the remaining eighteen. He had tried four times to drive out the fighters from harassing the commandos on the ground but he had not seceded. Two of his pilots were down but both were all right. He was about to try a fifth time when his com came to life. "Black leader this is Black Nine and company. Would you like some help?" Wes nearly lost control of his fighter. Black Ten had reported that nine had been hit and that they had lost contact. But what were they doing down here. They were supposed to be clearing away a group of picket ships from their escape vector. Unless. Wes flipped the com switch. "Where are you?" Loran laughed over the com. "Look out your port side." Wes looked out just as the Victor thundered past him towards the base with seven fighters ringed around the ship. "Well come on Wes, let's go kick some flutie butt." The Victor's guns began filling the air with energy, seeking the small enemy fighters that swarmed around the base. Wes blinked. Where had they gotten the corvette? He kicked in his afterburners and dove into the fray. Ten minutes later it was over. The enemy fighters had all been destroyed and the commandos had called to say they had taken the base a minute later. Loran ran down the boarding ramp of the Victor and strait into the arms of Lita. After a brief hug Loran turned and saluted as a smiling Wes walked up. "Sir, Black nine reporting." Wes grabbed Loran's hand and shook it. "Well done Loran. Thanks for the support up there. I just received word form the fleet. The battles over up there too. The fluties have just pulled out of the system, at least temporarily." "That's good to hear Wes. How are Four and Eight?" Wes's smile faded slightly. Eight will be all right in time but Porkins died when a stray laser bolt caught him on his way down. We'll miss him." Loran sighed. "Yes, he will be missed." "For now though," Wes glanced back, "we are to report back to the Awesome for refueling and rearming. But I just spoke to one of the officers on the Victor and he said they would be happy to ferry you back up to the fleet." Loran smiled at the thought. "Right. I'll see you up there then." Wes was about to turn away but Loran spoke. "Uh, sir. I need to talk to you about a very delicate matter when we get back up there." "Sure thing." Said Wes, then he was off to round up the rest of the pilots and get airborne again. "What's this about?" Said Lita from his side. Loran didn't look at her. "Something that could change my life forever." Lita gave him a puzzled look but said nothing. Five minutes later, after a good bye kiss and hug from Lita, Loran was back on the Victor and sitting in the Captain's chair in the aft control room. Yes, it would be a life changing decision but some how, he thought it was the right one to make.  
  
CHAPTER 10  
  
A while later, back on the Awesome, Loran steered Wes into an unused flight room. "What's this about Loran?" Loran closed the door and pulled a chair over. "Wes, I'll tell you plain. I believe I'm going to transfer over to fleet command." Wes swayed backwards. "Woh Loran, your a fighter pilot and a dang good one if you ask me. Why the switch all of a sudden?" Loran was silent for a second then gathered up his thoughts for a reply. "Wes. When I was commanding the Victor back there it just felt natural to me. I knew what to do and how to do it. I enjoyed it." The conversation went on for another thirty minutes. Finally Loran convinced Wes. Forty minutes after that they, along with General Antilles, were seated in the office of the Awesome's Captain, Alexander Vardez. An hour and twenty minutes after that Loran was commissioned, rather unceremoniously, as Captain of the Victor. The next day, Wes called a meeting of the Black Cats. The pilots arrived and were seated. Wes stepped up to the front. "Good morning people. First I want to congratulate you on the fine job you did yesterday down on Kessel. Yes, we will miss Jeff but that can wait for later. I called you here to tell you of a slight change in our roster." The pilots broke out into whispers and finally Jania got up. "Sir, what do you mean roster change? We are all still here except for Jeff. I know we'll need to find a replacement for him but besides that...." Jania trailed off for a second an she looked around the room then said. "Where's Loran?" "That's what I wanted to talk to you about today. Loran has, oh well, maybe He'd better tell you. Loran?" A side door opened and Loran walked in all decked out in his new blue Fleet officer's uniform. Jania's mouth dropped open and a couple of the others muttered but most just starred. "Loran here has just transferred out of the Fighter command and into Fleet. He is now temporary Captain of the Victor, the Corvette that came to our rescue yesterday. He made the decision himself and I'm sure he has something to say to you." Loran looked slightly uncomfortable in his new uniform but he smiled and nodded to Wes. "Well, I don't know where to start. Uh, I um." Loran could not muster up the words. Chaz saved him. He got up and walked forward until he stood in front of Loran. He cast a slightly befuddled eye over his uniform then seemed to make up his mind. He stuck out his hand. "It's been a pleasure serving with you Loran. I would probably be dead if it weren't for you." Loran shook Chaz's hand then pulled him in close for a hug. "Thanks Chaz." One by one the pilots came up and offered Loran they're congratulations and thanks. Jania, when it was her turn stopped short. Then stepped up and planted a kiss on Loran's cheek. She stepped back and gave him a smile then moved back. Chris and Seth pulled him into a double hug and thanked him for the great time. Finally Wes stepped back up and said. "This won't be the last time we'll see Loran of course. We'll probably be working with him and his ship often." The pilots cheered. "I think we'll all go see you off to your new ship Loran." The happy group walked Loran to his waiting shuttle and cheered him aboard. When he got to the top of the ramp, Loran turned and gave a smart salute. The ten remaining pilots saluted back as the door closed. Loran slumped back in his seat as the shuttle lifted off from the hanger deck of the Awesome and slid out into the black of space. Here and there, Warships hung in space. Some with repair droids crawling over damaged hull plates, and others fully operational, gliding by, waiting for the call to duty. Finally Loran spotted the Victor. It lay nestled up against a large bulky Mon Calamari cruiser. A couple of repair droids fluttered around the front end of the hull, repairing the bridge section. The shuttle docked with the corvette and Loran stepped out onto the deck of his new ship. Loran was surprised to see that this was the same hatchway he had come through when the Victor had first picked him up. And there standing before him was the same ensign that had helped him aboard. The man saluted and Loran saluted back. "Welcome back aboard sir. I didn't introduce myself the last time. Ensign Scott Harris." Loran jumped. "Harris? As in your brothers are Chris and Seth?" Scott looked surprised. "Why, yes sir. They are my brothers. But how do you know them." "They were in two of the Scorpions that destroyed the pickets. Chris was my wing man." Scott looked even more confused than before. "Oh." Loran waited until Scott had figured out just exactly what he had said. Finally Scott straitened. "Very well sir. I'll take you to your stateroom." Loran followed Scott down the hall and up a turbolift. The top floor of the corvette was almost totally occupied by two large staterooms and the power conduits and leads for the top turbolaser. Scott opened a non-discript door and lead Loran in. "Here you are sir." Loran gazed at the large spacious room. There was a large bed that took up one side of the room and a single dresser in another corner. Loran saw a door leading off the right side which probably led to the refresher. "There's not much to it is there sir? Our former Captain filled up this room but all that was taken out. You can fill it with what you want but a note of caution sir. When we're in the heat of battle things get knocked around quite a bit in here so be careful what you have on the shelves. I'll leave you here sir. Come down to the bridge when you're done." The young man stepped out of the room and left Loran alone. Loran took a walk around the room. He noticed that his personal things had all ready been delivered. This was going to take some getting used to. He walked over to the two large viewports that dominated an entire side of the room and looked out. Oh yes, this was really going to take some getting used to!  
  
CHAPTER 11  
  
Loran entered the Bridge for the first time. From what he had heard, the bridge had been hit early on in the battle against the pickets. A hole roughly the size of a comlink had been blown out of the top bulkhead. The entire bridge crew had been sucked out of that hole along with every object not bolted to the floor. Loran shuttered as he glanced up at the brand new bulkhead. The entire bridge crew! The young lieutenant he had met earlier was bending over a console as he Loran walked in. He glanced up then suddenly straitened and barked. "Captain on the Bridge." Loran winced. "Thank you Lieutenant...' "Dev Pazanski sir. Your XO." "Thank you Pazanski." Dev nodded. "Your welcome sir. Uh sir, hope you don't mind me asking but, Why?" "Why what?" The lieutenant looked bothered. "Why did you transfer over here?" "Oh. Well, I thought it would be a nice change from being cramped up in a fighter cockpit, so don't disappoint me Pazanski. Besides, I'm just here temporarily until they find me a permanent post." Dev looked satisfied with the answer. "Yes sir." A new voice called from the far side of the bridge. "Captain? I have an incoming message for you from the Fleet." Loran moved over to the other side of the bridge and found a narrow doorway that led into a cramped little room in which sat two young men surrounded by massive peace's of equipment. This was obviously the communications/decrypt room. The first man was pointing to a screen that simply said INCOMING MESSAGE on it. "Move out guys." The two men scrambled out of the small room and Loran shut the door. He pressed the small blinking button above the screen and a moment later, a very familiar face appeared on the screen. "Hello General Solo. Nice to see you back in the service again." General Han Solo smiled his famous lopsided grin. "Good to see you to Loran. I saw you last, what four and a half years ago?" "About sir." The general pulled at his uniform's collar. "I heard you transferred over to fleet, to bad. So when I heard I decided to offer you a job. Admiral Ackbar has found out where a small portion of the fluties fleet is now hiding. So, he is putting me in charge of a small taskforce to go get rid of the nuisance for him. I have nine of my ten ships ready. I was hoping you and your boat would be the tenth." Loran straitened up in his chair. "We would be honored sir." "Good, I'm sending you the fine print and the general plan so you can brief your men. I'll see you in four hours. Solo out." The General's picture faded and a new set of lights began blinking to signify the transfer of information. Three minutes later Loran emerged back onto the bridge. "Lieutenant. Prepare the ship for departure." "Very well sir." Loran turned to the rest of the bridge crew. "Navigator, move us out of the fleet and set a jump for this system." Loran handed a datapad to the navigator. "Once we're out, put us on yellow alert. We're going in hot. Lets move!" The bridge began humming with activity as the ship moved away from the large cruiser under which it had been nestled. They were on their way.  
Four hours later, they finally arrived. There, hanging in space over a dead, unnamed world was General Solo's taskforce. But it wasn't what he had expected. Before them sat a slightly battered fighter carrier called the Steadfast, an assault frigate designated the Warspite, three other corvettes named Raider, Menace, and Rapid respectively, two bulk freighters of untold age and name. The Resolution, an Imperial Star Destroyed II, and an ovoid ship that Loran instantly recognized as the Shree class cruiser Shibwarra. The Shibwarra was the centerpiece of General Solo's plan. It would hop into the system in which the enemy fleet sat and tell them that they were being pursued by a small force of New Republic ships. The enemy ships would form a defensive wall directly in front of the New Reps entry point. The New Republic's ships would keep the enemy busy, but the real threat would come from behind. In her massive docking bays sat every fighter that the general had been able to scrape together. This force included, to Loran's delight, his old squadron. The Black Cats. When the enemy was fully engaged, the Shibwarra would launch her fighters into the enemy's unprotected rear. It was a daring plan but Loran knew it would work, it had to.  
Loran was called to a last minute meeting on the Resolution but since they couldn't dispatch a shuttle, Loran had to use the holo-net to be part of the meeting. The plans were finalized and the taskforce was readied. The Victor, along with the Rapid, was assigned to guard the Steadfast. This did not really bother Loran but he could feel the crew's disliking of the job.  
Finally, and with great delays, the fleet began to move. It was a quick jump to the enemy system, just long enough for Loran to offer some words of motivation to the crew.  
"Sir, the Shibwarra has just entered the system." Yelled the sensor officer from across the bridge. "Very well." "Now one minute from reentry." Spoke the helmsman. Loran waited. Now it was down to twenty seconds, then ten, then five, then with a flash of light, the Victor and the rest of the fleet entered the system to find the enemy fleet, two heavy cruisers, four light cruisers and one large transport filling space in front of them. Just as they had planned. And behind them, sat the Shibwarra. Looking like a frightened babe hiding behind its mother's legs.  
General Solo's voice came over the com. "All vessels, engage the enemy. Repeat, engage the enemy." The Resolution, Warspite, Raider, and Menace moved toward the enemy battleline while the Victor and Rapid guarded the Steadfast as she disgorged her fighters. The two forces clashed. Bringing their massive guns to bear on each other. Red, blue, and green streaks lanced out from the ships. When the battle had been raging for several minutes Loran noticed something. There, on the far side of the smallest moon just outside the engagement zone. Loran zoomed in on the small moon with the ship's sensors. He hadn't been seeing things. Loran ran to the com unit and punched the button. "General Solo, there are at least two more ships hiding behind that small moon. Your left flank is.." But it was too late. Three more cruisers had shot out from the far side of the moon. As he watched, the Menace exploded under a hail of fire from the new arrivals. They were outgunned and probably outmatched. Then from his right came the two freighters that had till now stayed back from the fight. They began to move toward the left flank with a speed that did not quite match their size. The first freighter was nearing one of the cruisers now, the cruiser turned to brush off the attack. Two full salvos hit the ship but it kept coming as if impervious to the attacks. Suddenly, the freighter shot forward, on a suicide course for the cruiser. Then it clicked, those weren't normal freighters, they were robot ram ships. They were rare because no shipbuilder made them. They were chop-jobs made in the outer rim and were usually only used once. The cruiser, in desperation, turned all its guns on the incoming ship but it simply shrugged off the beams like they were pebbles. Then, with a horrific explosion, the two met. When the blast died down, there was nothing left but quickly- dissipating atoms. The second ram ship fired it's thrusters and headed for another of the cruisers. That cruiser, instead of turning to face the enemy, went to hyperspace. Probably a blind jump. Thought Loran. I doubt we will be seeing that one again. The ram ship, it's thrusters shot, flew out of the battle on a course that would push it into the planet. Loran brought his mind back to the present. Raider was drifting on the far side of the battle, all of its lights out. The Resolution was delivering a final blow to a light cruiser. Behind it floated the remains of a second light cruiser. The Warspite had taken heavy damage from two cruisers but was now back in the fight but with half it's engines gone and only a third of it's guns firing. But it was still there. The Shibwarra had joined the fight. It's attack taking the enemy by surprise. The fighters were zipping out and around the larger ships. Occasionally a salvo of torpedoes would come slamming in at an enemy cruiser, courtesy of the fighters. Loran was about to order the Rapid to go join the fight when General Solo's image appeared on the small screen on Loran's command chair. The older man looked tense and sweat was trickling down his face. "Loran, I need you to take your two corvettes and go help the Warspite. Those two cruisers are going to pound her to death if you don't do something. Now! Solo out." His face vanished. Loran got up. Finally, something to do. "Lieutenant Dev, signal the Rapid. We are going to go save Warspite and they are to come with us. Also, tell the Steadfast to get herself out of here, outer system, and wait for our call." "I sir." "Navigator, set a course that will take us past the far side of the cruisers that are hammering Warspite. Weapons, have all batteries target those cruisers, don't stop shooting until were well past." The navigator looked up from his screen. "Course set. Ready when you are." "Engage." The Victor began moving forward with the Rapid close behind. "Shields?" "Up sir." The two ships moved closer to the besieged Warspite and Loran finally got a good look at the damage she had sustained. The hole left side of her hull was melted away. Everything from guns to hull plates was blackened or gone. Her shields were gone and the enemy was taking the advantage. They were demolishing her forward section, including her bridge. But still her guns fired. "Go to full and engage the enemy." The corvettes turned toward the cruisers and began throwing energy into the larger ships' shields. The cruisers turned on the two tiny corvettes and began returning fire. A few missed but most of the shots hit. The shields began glowing a bright pink. But the cruisers could only target them with a handful of guns each. The corvettes on the other hand could not help but hit the ships with every gun in their arsenal. There was a thud behind Loran as something crashed to the deck. The deck crew jumped. "Steady boys, steady." Loran didn't believe his own words one bit. The second cruiser began to move out into the corvettes' path and started filling it with deadly energy. "Helm, evasive maneuvers, Get us out!" The Victor began a fast, steep upward roll to get past the cruiser in front of it but the Rapid didn't turn quick enough. With a final sparking of shields, she went up in a ball of flames. The Victor skirted past the obstructing cruiser and pushed for open space. Loran noticed that the gambit had actually paid off. The Warspite had managed to get her shields back up and was even now moving away from the engagement zone. But it had cost him the Rapid.  
Loran turned his ship around and sped back into the fight. He aimed his ship at a light cruiser that had come up into the Shibwarra's blind spot and had begun pounding its engines. The Victor made two passes at the ship before it was forced to limp away, due to Loran's gunners' skillful targeting. There were now four heavy enemy cruisers left and one slightly damaged light cruiser. The transport they had seen earlier had disappeared. The Resolution had been cornered off by three of the heavy cruisers and was taking a fair beating. She could take on any two of the ships but against three she was being beaten hard. Her guns barked out at the enemy ships. Taking huge chunks out of their hulls but they were winning. The Shibwarra was slugging it out with one of her sister ships off in the distance. He had to do something for the Resolution of she would go down soon. Suddenly a light came on in his head. He scrabbled over to the com and began looking for a frequency. He finally found it and tapped it in. "Wes, this is Loran. Can you here me?" A light laugh came back at him. "Of course I can here you Vala." "Wes, Get the squadron together and anyone else that will come and form up 8,000 klics off of the Resolution's stern." "All right Loran." Loran began outlining his plan. "Once Wes gets what ever forces he can together, I'll coordinate with the Resolution and we'll make a break for home."  
A minute later Wes called back. "All right Loran, you have the Black Cats, four B-wings, and six A-wings at your disposal. The others are off helping the Shibwarra." "Good. Form them up in a wedge ahead of us but have the A-wings run in behind the Cats. We're going to try a version of the A- wing slash with a twist to it. Head in for the middle ship. Pull around it and get to Resolution and we'll make a jump for it." "OK Vala." Loran turned to the helmsman. "Helm, bring us around on an intercept course for the middle cruiser. We'll fire as we come." The fighters formed up and the small force began moving. Loran turned on the tactical officer. "Is there anything special about this ship? Like extra shields or a cloaking device?" The tactical officer stood stock still, but Loran was sure he saw the man glance over at the XO. After a moment the man replied. "Well sir, if two new shield generators and a proton torpedo launcher don't bother you at all I'll be sure to mention them to you." The bridge filled with roars of laughter as the tactical officer ducked a small salvo of data cards Loran had thrown at him. Loran was grinning from ear to ear. "I have no problem with your modifications if you don't." The tactical officer just blushed. "No sir, I have no problem with them." "Just how much more shield power do we have?" "50% more on the forward hull and 20% more for the rest of the hull. As for the torpedoes, You have two launchers with twenty torpedoes at your disposal." "What did it cost us?" "Not much." said the officer. '"When we power up the shields we'll loss a few Klics per second and the torpedoes didn't cost anything." "How come you didn't tell me this sooner?" The officer shuffled his feet. "We weren't sure if you would approve." "Hey," Said Loran. "if it's going to help us than I have no objection." "Sir, twenty seconds to maximum firing range." said the tactical officer as he glanced his screen. Loran began strapping himself into his command seat. "Comm, give me one-S.Q." The Communications officer gave Loran a thumbs up. "This is the Captain. Full battle stations, prepare to engage the enemy in," Loran glanced at the battle clock. "Ten seconds." The bridge lights turned red and the battle alert blared. "Tactical. Give me the range." "Range is one million klics and closing fast sir." "We're in range sir." Loran nodded grimly. "Open fire, all guns. Disable that cruiser." Victor's two dual turbolasers and four laser cannons burst out against the enemy cruiser. The battle had been joined.  
  
CHAPTER 12  
  
Another laser blast rocked Victor as it sped through the blockade. Loran was in his element. "Tactical. Keep a watch on that third cruiser. It may come around for another pass. Gold two, take the rest of your flight and knock out that turbolaser battery. Wes, take flights one and two and see if you can disable that cruiser for me." Reports flooded onto his small console and every second another alarm went off somewhere. "Damage control reports a hull breach in sector 4 sir. They're sealing it off now." "We've lost engine ten sir." "Reroute its power to main guns." "We just lost red nine. Got hit by a torpedo." "Captain. The Resolution's main battery is coming back on line. Their engaging the second cruiser." The bridge crew cheered at this good news but Loran just smiled. The battle had been raging now for just under five minutes but the losses were already mounting up. They had lost three A-wings in the initial clash and two of the Black Cats had been shot out of their fighters but both had been picked up by one of Resolution's shuttles. Victor it self had sustained little damage, Partly due to the extra shield generators. Loran's little fleet had arrived just in time to pull the three cruisers off Resolution's back. At the moment, Victor was engaged in a slugging match with the first cruiser but Loran knew he was slowly losing. But Loran still had one sabacca card up his sleeve. He still hadn't used his ship's torpedoes. "Helm. Bring us broadside on to that cruiser. Tactical, concentrate all fire on the bridge section." Both men nodded and turned back to their consoles. Loran waited as his ship slowly turned in place to show it's side to the cruiser. That was when it happened. Loran was about to ask Wes to change targets when the cruiser concentrated it's fire on some point beyond his sight. The next thing Loran knew his ship lurched like a wounded animal and a titanic explosion threw Loran forward into his screen. The lights went out and everything went quiet. Loran pulled himself back up into his chair and brushed his head with his sleeve. Loran felt it come away wet. "Probably just a scratch." Loran thought. Loran tried to peer around in the darkness but couldn't see anything. "Mr. Harris?" Loran called out. "Are you there?" He heard a rustling off to his left followed by an uncertain voice. "I'm here sir. At least I think I am." Loran called out to the rest of his bridge crew. All but three finally answered. The tactical officer, the Flight Ops officer and one of the bridge guards never answered. "Scott? Try and make your way over to Tactical and see what happened. "Mr. Pazanski. Try Flight Ops. Engineering?" "Yes sir?" Came a voice from his right. "Try and get some light in here. Communications? Try and contact the rest of the stations." Loran began to hear muttered curses from his bridge crew as they stumbled over and bumped into things. Low lights began flickering on and after a minute they stayed on. The bridge was a mess. Rubble cluttered to floor. Loran quickly realized why the Flight Ops officer and the guard hadn't answered. The guard was crumpled up on the floor. His head resting at an odd angle. The Flight Ops officer lay sprawled across his screen and Loran could see a dark puddle forming on his keyboard. But what about the Tactical officer? Loran heard a soft moan from the direction of the tactical station. Scott's worried voice came from the tactical station. "I don't think you want to know what happened over here sir." Loran grimaced. "All right boys. Get as much back as possible. I want to be back in the fight within two minutes. Scott. Take tactical. As soon as were back Scott, target the torpedoes at the nearest enemy ship and empty the magazine. Then bring the guns to bare on the fluties and pound them." "Sir we'll have minimal shields and no propulsion for at least another ten minutes." Scott didn't have to add, We'll be a sitting duck. Everyone knew it.  
The Victor was coming back to life around Loran. Half his crew was dead and he had minimal shields and no sublight or light speed capabilities but that didn't bother Loran. He had already resigned himself and his ship to death but he would take a few of those cruisers with him.  
Seven minutes after Loran given deadline the Victor sprang back into action. The main viewport's blastdoors retracted and Loran got his first view of the battle. Resolution had taken out one of the cruisers but had sustained heavy damage. The remaining two cruisers were working in concert with each other, systematically destroying the Resolution's gun emplacements. The nearest cruiser was just inside missile range. Loran whipped around. "Kill that cruiser Mr. Harris." Twenty torpedoes leapt out from Victor's forward compartment ridding blue flames. The torpedoes crossed the distance in less then fifteen seconds.  
The cruiser had ignored the broken hulk because it was not moving and not firing so it represented no threat. But now that burned out hulk and what it had launched were the biggest threat. The cruiser's captain barely had time to recognize the threat to his ship before they hit. Then he didn't need to worry anymore.  
The torpedoes slammed into the cruiser one after another. Its already weakened shields could not hold up to the barrage. The first five torpedoes took down the shields and the rest passed unmolested to hit the hull. The cruiser's engines and its reactor exploded in a rolling fireball that shredded its hull. Loran barked orders to the bridge crew. "Thruster control. Bring us around to heading 175. Guns. Target that remaining cruiser." Victor slowly turned to face the remaining cruiser. The cruiser figured out what had just happened and began pulling away from Resolution. But the General Solo wouldn't let it go so easily. Resolution, all though badly damaged, turned to pursue the cruiser. The enemy vessel was moving at high speed toward the lightspeed barrier. General Solo slowly lost ground until the cruiser disappeared with a flash of light into hyperspace.  
Around Loran, the bridge crew broke into cheers of victory. They had won, but at a terrible cost. Warspite had gotten to the other side of the planet and had settled there to repair what damage it could. Raider was still drifting with all power still out. Menace and Rapid were both space debris no larger than a fist. Shibwarra was under minimal power but she had survived against one of her own class. Steadfast was still in the outer system waiting to be recalled. And Resolution was moving back in Loran's direction. She was a mass of charred holes and flaming decking but she seemed relatively good. Her engines were giving her trouble so it took her nearly half an hour before she had saddled up to Victor and pulled her in.  
Loran stepped out of the docking tube and looked back at his ship. Loran could not believe what he saw. A massive turbolaser barrage had destroyed six of the ships eleven engines. The damage had spread all the way up to the escape pod hatches. The communications array was gone and so was, Loran guessed the hyperdrive. He shivered at the thought. What if they had tried to go to hyper? Would they have blown themselves to bits? Loran continued to gaze at his wreck of a ship until he felt someone walk up behind him. It was General Solo. "Think she'll ever fly again?" asked Loran. Solo joined Loran in looking at the ship. "I think we can get her going again. It's amazing what the yards can do." Both men turned to face each other. Both were lost for words. Finally Han spoke. "Loran, you and your ship saved our butts back there. I, I don't know how to thank you besides buying you all the drinks you and your crew want." Loran smiled a weak smile. "That shouldn't be to hard sir, half my crew is dead but I'm sure the survivors will thank you. But in the mean time lets just get out of this system." General Solo just shook his head. "This was a major victory for us I think. And at the moment we need all the victories we can get. What with the Fluties and those blood sucking Yuuzhan Vong invading our space. We're going to need Captains like you. Heck we need captains like you now!" "I agree with that." Said Loran. "Come on Captain Vala, how about that drink?"  
  
CHAPTER 13  
  
Four months later: Captain Loran Vala stood in another docking bay, this time in one of the New Republic's large repair stations in orbit above Bilbringi. It was just one of many stations that made up the famous Bilbringi Space Yards. Space outside the mag-con field was littered with vessels of all sizes, repair and outfitting stations, building slips, and defensive platforms. But his attention was focused inside. His eyes sparkled as he gazed at The Victor, newly restored and refurbished. The scars of her last battle were for the most part gone except for the odd ding or scratch. Her new mat black paint job nearly glowed from the overhead lights. Her new insignia and name were painted on both sides of her hammerhead bridge section. A red circle with a painting of the Victor almost leaping out at viewers. Two large explosions surrounded the ship. It was, in fact, a rendition of Victor's defeat over the pickets at Kessel. Below the image was a bright shining battle star. A few more changes had taken place under the skin of Victor as well. The yard had retained the enhanced forward shields. They were need because of the small new flight deck that had replaced the forward cargo compartment. Victor was now one of the growing number of corvettes with this modification. Loran could now launch up to six fighters from his forward hold. At the moment the large round hold door lay open reveling the changes. Loran sighed at the spectacle. He turned to look at the bridge crew and senior officers of his ship. "Doesn't she look grand boys?" A rounding roar of shouts came back at him. "We'll be heading back out soon you know." This time a chorus of boos encircled him. "I know I know, doesn't sound to fun does it? But we've been dirt side long enough." Here he looked over to his right at the tall green clad women standing with a bottle in her right hand and a glass in her left. Loran smiled at his fiancée and was rewarded with a graceful smile coming back at him. "Lita my dear. Would you be so kind?" Lita stepped forward, green dress swirling and held up the champagne bottle. Loran stooped down and retrieved his own glass from the deck. "Attention!" Loran barked. His crew straightened. He lifted his glass and the others followed suit. "To the victors!" The champagne bottle flew up and struck Victor's hull and shattered into a million bits of glass and shimmering liquid. The crew raised their voices in one all mighty shout. "TO THE VICTORS!"  
  
THE END 


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